06: Strange Days Are Comin' for Us.

With her mind reeling, Zarya sent a message to the brothers saying she had found a ghost case a couple of states over that she was going to tend to quickly. It wasn't a total lie because there was a case she was going to use to blow off some steam, but she really just needed to get herself in order otherwise she might slip around the brothers. While she was off collecting herself and taking care of the haunting, Sam and Dean focused in on Amara and Castiel attempted retrieving his grace from Metatron. After a few days they all returned to the bunker pretending not a damn thing happened since the last time they saw each other. They ignored that Metatron was on the loose, that Amara was on the loose and fully grown, that Sam was having visions of Lucifer's Cage, and that Zarya… well, Zarya was a real wreck and they had no clue.

Zarya finally had a blissful, dreamless nap from 2:45am to 6:30am when her hypersensitive ears heard a slam from the kitchen. She launched out of bed, grabbing her revolver from beneath the pillow, and sprinted into the kitchen. She skid through the doorway with her gun at the ready when she froze suddenly. Sam had his hands grasped around something in the air looking ready to strike it, but there was nothing there. She blinked a couple of times as her gun lowered and Dean joined the commotion with just as much confusion.

"Dude, are you having a stroke? Do you smell toast?"

Zarya's eyes then caught the buffet table of strange sweets. "What the holy fuck…?" She breathed as she walked by each item. "Is that- is that marshmallows… on nachos?" She pulled a face of disgust but her hand reached slowly for one of the chips only to be slapped away by Dean.

"This wasn't me," Sam spoke quickly.

"It was me," said a strange little man who appeared to them suddenly. He smiled at Zarya. "Go ahead and try those - they're delicious. You would love them."

She blinked a couple of times with wide eyes before looking up to Dean. "Are we all having a stroke? Or is there a hex bag somewhere?"

"You're as silly as ever ZeeZee!"

The ravenette nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard the childish female voice behind her. It was a circle of strange glances; Sam, the strange little man, Dean, the new female, and Zarya. The ravenette stared with wide and nearly twitching eyes at the girl who had just appeared. She floated above the ground with small, fluffy, white and gold wings. Her hair was snow white flowing in bouncy waves that framed her bright blue eyes. She wore a flowy golden dress and looked to Zarya with the sweetest smile.

Sam cleared his throat suddenly but no one could stop looking at the little man or floating girl. "Guys… this is, um… I think this is… Sully, my friend from when I was a kid…"

"You mean Mork from Ork here is your dumbass imaginary friend Sully?" came Dean. When Sam nodded his gaze turned onto the ravenette. "Please, not you too Zare."

She sucked air through her teeth sharply as she looked between Dean and the girl. "This… this is…"

"I'm Lucy!" She announced with glee as she happily floated between them all. "ZeeZee and I used to be the best of friends when she was little!" She got in Zarya's face suddenly, taking her hands. "You've gotten so big, ZeeZee! So pretty! So strong! I'm so proud of you!"

"Uh, thanks?"

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?!" Dean shouted suddenly before rubbing his still tired face.

"Someone killed my friend," Sully spoke quickly.

Dean's face deadpanned. "You mean your imaginary imaginary friend?"

"First off, "imaginary friend" is more of a descriptive term. How you just said it? That was a little… offensive, just to be honest. Secondly, we're Zanna. Me, Lucy, and… and the victim, we're Zanna. We help kids. We're the good guys. Sam, Zarya, tell him."

"He's telling the truth," came Lucy's melodic but child-like voice. "We're kind of like the Fae for children, but we don't have as much power. When a child is in need of a friend we come to them until they don't need us anymore."

Suddenly both brother's looked to Zarya. "You… needed an imaginary friend?" Sam questioned curiously.

The dhampir's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. "It was right after the accident, okay? I was confused and lonely whether I had Nick or not. I knew something wasn't right but there wasn't anything I could do about it."

The Winchesters stared at Lucy for a long couple of minutes before raising their brows at the ravenette. "Library, now." Demanded Dean. "Both of you. You two," he pointed to the Zanna, "stay here." He swiftly shoved Sam and Zarya out of the kitchen and into the library. "You two aren't seriously believing this crap, are you?"

Neither of them looked at him which caused him to facepalm.

"I may have come across a thing or two in Romanian lore about Zanna thanks to Zina, Katia, and Nova." Zarya admitted. "They're creatures who guide and protect lost children. Zanna intentionally appear as figments of a child's imagination, allowing the child to move on with confidence once guidance is no longer necessary."

"You really wanna go there right now, Zare? When your childhood 'zanna' is a fluffy little angel in white named Lucy?"

She crossed her arms and cut her eyes at him. "Try to remember that when I was a kid I was compelled by a friggen Mikaelson to forget my actual life and trip to Hell after Katherine Pierce tried to kill me. Who's to say we get to personally pick or create our zanna, huh? You think Sam willingly created some pudgy man in rainbow suspenders who made him marshmallow nachos as a kid?" When Sam didn't make a peep they looked to him. Zarya's eyes opened wide and demandingly. "Come on, Sam. Don't do this to me right now. Don't tell me you created Rainbow Pudge Muffin out there out of your own noggin."

He shrugged and rubbed his arm. "I just wanted someone fun to keep me company and let me be a kid, really. I wanted someone bright and happy."

"And that's what you got?" Dean snorted. "So what the hell did you want then, Zare?"

As the memory flashed back to her she sweatdropped with deep embarrassment. Her head hung low with her bed head covering her eyes as she timidly answered like a child in trouble. "An angel with blue eyes to make me not afraid anymore…"

Dean's palm slapped his forehead with such force that the sound echoed through the library. "What the actual fuck am I supposed to do with the two of you?"

Zarya had surprised the brothers with her disguise of choice for meeting the parents of the child whose Zanna was murdered. She had taken her dark hair and pulled half back in a small ponytail before lightly curling the ends of her hair that were just reaching her chest. The curl brought it back up to her collarbone. She donned nicely fitting black dress pants, a white sweetheart neck camisole, and indigo cardigan with black flats to finish. She even went all out putting on some mascara to accentuate her lengthy lashes.

"Hello, Ms. Berman," she smiled warmly at the woman with the brothers behind her on the steps of the house. "I'm Dr. Remy Hadley, child psychologist. These are my childhood trauma associates from Child Services. We're following up on a report made by your daughter, Maddie?"

The mother sighed and stepped aside to let the three in. "She uh, has a very active imagination. She made up this unicorn man, Sparkle. But, um, she thinks he's dead… in her room."

Dean blinked twice. "So, Sparkle is a unicorn… and also a man?"

"Yeah."

"So… a manicorn?"

Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Zarya frowned and gave a fair hitting but hidden punch to Dean's side to make him groan a little. "May we see Maddie please, Ms. Berman?"

The mother led the trio upstairs to a spare room where the young girl was still sitting, clearly distraught. Zarya knelt in front of her with a sweet smile, gathering the child's full attention. Slowly, Maddie's eyes began to dilate as the compulsion reeled her in. "Hey, Maddie. My name is Remy; I'm a special doctor for kids to talk to when something bad happens. Do you wanna tell me about last night? Why don't you wanna go back into your room?"

"All the blood," Maddie answered instantly. Sam and Dean were led down the hall to her bedroom while Zarya continued to compel the story out of Maddie to make sure it wasn't just her imagination like her mother thought.

"Who's blood?"

"Sparkle's. Someone killed him and left him there when we were out for dinner."

"Why would someone want to hurt Sparkle, sweetheart?"

"I don't know. He was my best friend. I never had to have a tea party alone after Sparkle became my friend."

"Is that how you met Sparkle? Because you were lonely?" Maddie nodded sadly. Zarya sighed softly and gave the girl a hug. "Don't worry, Maddie. Whoever did this will be caught, okay?"

As Zarya pulled away from Maddie, her eyes suddenly lit up at something behind the ravenette. "You have a friend like Sparkle too!"

The dhampir whirled around and met Lucy's eye. The floating angel smiled brightly with a wave. "She sure does, Maddy! Sometimes everyone just needs a special friend. If you want a new friend to help you grieve the loss of Sparkle, I think I have a fabulous friend for you!"

Some light began to return to Maddy's eyes. "Really? That would be awesome!"

A soft smile crept its way onto Zarya's face. It had been so long that she forgot how kindhearted Lucy was. As she began to walk towards Maddy's room the angel Zanna zoomed in front of her, blocking her path. "You really don't want to see that, ZeeZee. It might not be human blood, but it's still… what would you call it these days? A 'shit show'?"

Zarya blinked a few times. "I'm gonna ignore that last part, first of all. And second," her voice dropped to a quiet hiss, "you know about that?!"

"Of course I do, ZeeZee," her voice whispered for her friend. "I'm your best friend. Also, we kind of have this inert ability to sense other magical creatures. Don't worry, I won't tell Sam and Dean."

"What about Sully though? If you can sense it then can't he? Won't he tell Sam?"

"I will make certain that Sully does not speak your secret if that's what you need of me, ZeeZee. I'll always be here to help you if you need me."

She exhaled slowly through her nose as she nodded. "Thank you, Lucy."

Sure enough just moments after Sam and Dean emerged from the bedroom looking distraught. Not long after they left the Berman home did Lucy and Sully discover that another Zanna did not check in the night before. Upon investigation there was yet another heinous murder of a mermaid Zanna. They were barely able to finish burying the mermaid before Sully got a telepathic distress call from another Zanna. They rushed to the scene where a Zanna named Weems was bleeding from a stab wound. Both Lucy and Sully rushed to him. Lucy, with tears of silver coming from her eyes, put her hands over his wound and a golden light emitted between them.

"No, Lucy," Weems pleaded in a pained groan. "I'm not that worth it."

"Of course you are!" She argued. "Every life that fights to live is worth it. Fletcher needs you. I can sacrifice a little bit so at least one of these innocent children may remain so."

"What's she doing, Clarke?" asked Sam.

Zarya's eyes had widened as she remembered something long forgotten. "Lucy has healing powers, but at a cost to her. When I was nine, my parents - the Deightons - were outside. I was going downstairs with Lucy and accidentally slipped. Just simply lost my footing." She shrugged as she watched the deep stab in Weems begin to heal. "I had fallen down the stairs plenty of times before, but for some reason that day I hit just right. When I made it to the bottom I wasn't conscious and I was bleeding from my nose and ears. Her hair used to be a curly, golden blonde. Then she used her magic to save my life and lost all the color and form from each strand."

Everyone fell silent while the wound on Weems was healed by the angel. Even Sully had fallen back on his knees with tears in his eyes. What would Lucy be sacrificing this time? Something as simple as hair? Her wings? Once the wound was finished, as Lucy's hands were slowly brought back to her sides, she dropped to the ground. Her eyes widened with the sudden feeling of ground on her skin. Her feet had never actually touched down before. Now she would never float or fly again.

"Sam and Dean… they'll come and get you. Even if you told them not to."

"Since when do you doubt the Winchesters? Doubt Dean? He'd probably take out all of the demons in Hell just to find you."

Zarya's eyes met the small angel's. How was it the exact shade of blue, she wondered? Then Nick's face flashed before her with a striking ache. It had never been an act of chance that Lucifer found Nick when he was most vulnerable, just as it was no coincidence that Zarya's childhood imaginary friend was a blue eyed angel who made her smile as much as she was annoyed. What Zarya failed to connect until that very moment was Lucy's willingness to sacrifice for Zarya. Sure, in that moment it was because in the end Lucy herself was a Zanna, but Lucy knew to keep her secret of being a dhampir. She was prepared to ensure that Sully never spoke of it.

Somehow you're just always there, she thought about the archangel. And you always have been.

Zarya walked forward suddenly, directly to Lucy. Without saying a word she just held her hands out to the angel. Lucy took them and let the dhampir help her to attempt to stand, albeit wobbly. The ravenette hugged Lucy, completely ignoring the rest around them. She understood fully what Lucy sacrificed for someone she cared about. It was the same that Lucifer sacrificed over and over again. Zarya tried not to think about it as she felt the sting of tears threatening her eyes.

"There was a woman," Lucy spoke softly to Zarya. She sensed the girl's distress and need for redirection. "Weems, he saw a woman drive away in an old VW Bug."

She nodded, the feeling of tears receding thanks to Lucy. "I'll take care of this."

Zarya would be lying if she said she was anxious as she drove the Impala to the address she found. Lucy had been biting her lip to remain silent in the passenger's seat before she could no longer contain herself. "I can't believe you used your compulsion on Sam and Dean!"

"Did you have to say it out loud?!" The dhampir shot back. "My heart is already racing. If Dean even has the slightest suspicion that I drove this fucking car I'm either gonna have to compel him again, or tell him I'm a fucking dhampir."

"Why did you do it then, ZeeZee?"

"I needed them to stay there with Sully and Weems no questions asked. She's probably gunning for you before Sully and I'm not going to give her the opportunity to do either."

"Reese used to be a good girl too, ZeeZee. She's just hurt about losing her sister."

A pang of both anger and sorrow hit Zarya's chest. "And I was just hurt about losing Nick."

Lucy stared at Zarya for a long while, finally putting the pieces together. "You were my first child, you know," she finally spoke. "We Zanna… we start off as a blank slate. If a child in need has a specific connection to something that will make them more comfortable then we sense that. We can go to them and become the thing that will make them happiest. After we take form and must move on from our first child we seek children with a little less specific need which is easier to identify with. I never knew why I became an angel or why my name is Lucy. I could never reach the part of you that knew."

"Because I never knew," the dhampir spoke quietly. "I was compelled to forget and start a new life."

"You make so much more sense to me now, ZeeZee. It's okay to feel like you need him, or just that you want him around. You always have."

"No, it's not. I'm a hunter. My life is in shambles. Now I'm a dhampir, and it wouldn't matter anyway because he's back in the stupid Cage."

"You sound like you have a lot of resentment towards an object."

"I do!" She admitted with a fierceness. "It's even worse than humanity's poor excuse of a justice and prison system. Lucifer was betrayed by his own family for having an opinion that turned out to be more or less accurate. What do human souls get for punishment? Torture in Hell. Some end up warped into demons. Yeah, cause that's a total punishment. What does he get? Locked in a timeout corner in the furthest corner of Hell for all of eternity. The one chance he had at freedom was to either kill Michael or get killed by Michael. He jumped back into that hole with that jackass for me." There was a sneer on her face as she shook her head.

Lucy reached over and placed her cool hand gently on top of Zarya's that rested on the shifter. "The more you try to ignore that you care, the more difficult it will become, ZeeZee. You will never be granted peace until you acknowledge what will actually make you peaceful. You may be a hunter, it may be in your blood, but what kind of hunter are you really? Are you one like Sam and Dean, following humanity's guidelines and beliefs? Are you one like Nova, taking what you want and doing as you please? Or do you have your own path with your own ideals? Your life began anew when all you knew of normalcy collapsed around you so you turned to Sam and Dean's hunting, but after all you've been through since then… after turning into a dhampir, can you really force yourself to be what other people want you to be?"

Zarya's lip actually quivered. "I can't… I can't be what other people want me to be… what Sam and Dean want me to be…" Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I'm barely human anymore and I miss it… I miss it more than almost anything in the world…"

"What is it that you miss more than your humanity?"

One blood tinged tear ran down her cheek from her right eye. Who was it that she actually longed for anymore; was it still Nick? Or was it just his face with the archangel inside that she truly missed? Deep down, both of them knew the answer.

Zarya emerged from the Impala parked across the street with her revolver at the ready when the VW Bug pulled into the driveway. Lucy remained a couple of feet behind while following the ravenette. "Yo, Reese!" The dhampir called when the girl exited the car. "I hear you've got beef with Zanna."

Reese sneered at the ravenette and armed herself with the dagger she used to kill Sparkle and Nicky. "What's it to-" Then she saw Lucy tailing behind and cut her eyes. "So it's you."

"Great, a groupie."

"You're Zarya Deighton - Lucy's first. Somehow such a damaged kid had no reason for being so damaged and became some glorified wackjob."

Zarya smiled sarcastically in a way that flashed her fangs. "Now that's just rude, don't you think? And I'll have you know, it's Zarya Vasile." Reese's face paled instantly at the name which caused Zarya to deadpan. "Seriously? Even a standard, run of the mill lunatic has heard of the fucking Vasiles?"

"Zanna know your family, ZeeZee," Lucy's timid voice chirped. "Most Vasiles are allies and storied as merciless protectors. Some Zanna tell stories about the Vasiles."

She groaned and aimed her revolver at Reese. "You know what? I don't even have enough energy to give a fuck tonight. Either hand over the dagger and peacefully end your quest to kill Zanna, Lucy and Sully especially, or I'm gonna have to end your life."

"ZeeZee!"

"You Vasiles aren't protectors," Reese spat. "Every last one of you are nothing but monsters."

As if in slow motion, Reese darted for Lucy with her dagger. She thought she was fast enough to get past a human Zarya Vasile. She was certainly surprised when Zarya didn't move an inch past her hand shooting out and grabbing Reese's throat as she neared. Zarya lifted her off the ground with enough pressure to slightly cut off her air supply. As Reese struggled, the dagger clattered to the ground. She strained her eyes to look down at Zarya, only to be mortified by what she saw. Zarya's face had begun to change with the dark veins shadowing beneath her eyes that were turning a bloody, crimson red. Her lips pulled back with a hiss to show her extended fangs.

"You're right; we are all monsters. You can tell your sister that when you see her."

With one, effortless motion Zarya flicked her wrist holding Reese's throat and snapped the girl's neck. The crack echoed through the street just as loud as the thud from Reese's body hitting the ground. Zarya's face returned slowly while she stared at the body at her feet. Guilt overcame harshly. And she still had to guiltily drive the Impala she compelled the use for back to the motel. Her knees began to shake as if she were going to fall, but Lucy quickly ushered her back to the car. It wasn't a populated neighborhood, but someone would find out sooner rather than later. As she sped back to the Winchesters there was only one person she longed for comfort from. Someone to just tell her she wasn't going to fall apart; someone to tame the beast within. The only person in the whole universe she regrettably knew could. Even Lucy knew it too as she sat beside Zarya in silence.

Lucifer.